The Fifth Saiyajin or Raditz's Mistake
by Selene Starblade
Summary: What happens when it turns out that there's a Saiyan on Namek since before Bejita came to Chikyuu? Alternaverse story.
1. Chapter 1

In all of reality, exist many, many universes. They are divergent at points, leading some to call them "Parallell".  
  
Many of these universes contain variations on particular, important entities. Some contain versions of more than one of these. Each of these peculiar entities is vital to the existence of their peculiar group of realities.  
  
For instance, a group of Sailor Scouts is present in a surprisingly wide variety of universes, largely because they are one of the few groups of vital entities whose identity is variable. IE, Naru Osaka as Sailor Pluto, or the Sailor Scouts appearing in America as different people.  
  
There is also Ranma Saotome. Without his presence, his universes lose their peculiar markers and remain in the generic "chi/magic" group.  
  
And, of course, such others as Pai the three-eyed Sanjiyan, Sakura, known as Cardcaptor, Gendo and Ikari Shinji, Ash Ketchum aka Satoshi (depending on language of that particular universe), Inu-Yasha, Sonic the Hedgehog, and, of course, Megaman/Rockman (Again, language-dependent).  
  
One of the more well-known is one Son Goku by name. Goku is a Saiyajin, an incredibly powerful warrior posessed of, among other things, the ability to transform to a higher power state.  
  
A fact for most of these universes is the existence of objects known as 'dragon balls'. In a large percentage of this group, the Dragonballs grant wishes. A well-known fact in these universes, for anyone who pays attention, is this:  
  
Kuillin is Goku's best friend, and usually the one the latest 'bad guy' beats on heavily. In pretty much every fight, you can count on Kuillin to get beat up by someone whom Goku later takes down. Kuillin dies pretty often too.  
  
This is, of course, rather a pain for the bald, noseless monk in question, largely because, while originally of a comparable ability to Gokuu, once the whole "Vejita Incident" is over Gokuu has far surpassed his old friend. This leaves Kuillin in the dust, so to speak, of the combat achievement of his friend.  
  
Surprisingly, this is never what gets Kuillin down.  
  
Up until what is typically known as the "Cell Saga", the thing Kuillin bemoans every time he thinks he is about to die....  
  
Is that he never had a girlfriend.  
  
At the end of the "Cell Games Saga", however, he winds up with Android 18. Who, incidentally, does not age, and is a better fighter than him, though admittedly not by anywhere near as much as, say, Vegita.  
  
It's kind of sad, really. Lots of people like Kuillin, but the poor man, in basically every universe, gets left behind by his Saiyajin friend.  
  
Now, this is not to say that Android 18 is a bad person, or even a bad person for Kuillin to wind up with. However, the poor guy never winds up with someone who helps him to maintain a level on par with the other Z fighters.  
  
So, why don't we solve both problems at once, ne?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The Fifth Saiyajin Chapter 1: A few changes here and there  
  
A Dragon Ball Z Fanfiction by S. Starblade Dedicated to "the little guy".  
  
Disclaimer: Yeah. One o' these. I don't own any of the Dragon Ball/ Dragon Ball Z characters, they belong to Akira Toriyama. That one extra character, and any bit-parts, however, are liable to be mine.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Obviously, the first thing to do is to decide how to change it.  
  
So, let us throw the first stone into Mimir's well, and see what the first change does.  
  
Back in the first Dragon Ball Z saga, Raditz mentions that only four Saiyajins survived the destruction of planet Vejita.  
  
However, Freiza, in the Freiza saga specifically, recalls fighting other Saiyans after Vejita's destruction.  
  
This means that Raditz was wrong, and some Saiyans got sent to other worlds, and therefore were not caught in Vejita's explosion, caused by Freiza.  
  
So, the first change.  
  
******  
  
Two tall, burly men with gravity-defying black hair stand over a "Saiyajin" space-pod, looking at the blue-haired, tailed baby within it.  
  
"Are you sure about this, Serori?" says the slightly smaller of the two.  
  
Serori nods to his broader, but shorter companion. "We can't trust Freiza, Retasu. I'm not really fond of having him in command, and his specifically promising not to, say, blow up our planet, has me nervous. I'm not afraid, mind you, I just don't trust the... whatever Freiza is."  
  
Retasu shrugs. "I suppose you're right. Did you hear about Bardock? He's planning something, to try and get rid of Freiza. I heard that King Vejita's in on it too."  
  
Serori nods again. "It's getting dangerous. It's just a matter of choosing a planet to send my daughter to."  
  
Retasu blinks twice. "Your brat's a girl? How on Bejita did I miss that? Besides, I heard your kid was born with a power rating of only seven."  
  
Serori frowns. "That doesn't matter. She's my only child. I will see her safe. Now, help me decide. It's either the planet Namek, or this other one, Turkinuru."  
  
In every other universe, Retasu and Serori choose Turkinuru. A planet which Freiza incidentally blows up later. They choose it because, female or no, low power rating or not, Serori wants his daughter to learn to fight, and Namek is known to have few fighters, much less inhabitants at all.  
  
In this one, however, we make one small change...  
  
Technological things can be very finicky. Many people hate the way, when you hit a microwave button, sometimes it doesn't register.  
  
Serori stabs the button, only to have his finger slide up the keypad across the other one. The first button fails to register the glancing blow, but the other one is pressed just right. Instantly, the spacepod disappears down the launch tube.  
  
Serori and Retasu freeze, sweatdropping.  
  
Several seconds pass.  
  
Without moving, Retasu calmly states. "It wasn't my fault."  
  
Serori just breaks down.  
  
******  
  
Oops.  
  
Oh, well. That's the first change. Are any others neccessary?  
  
Hmm.  
  
Oh, yes. That one.  
  
******  
  
The spacepod shifted slightly in its silent flight through the void, and noodged an asteroid on its way through as the autopilot made a tiny miscalculation.  
  
The new hole in the spacepod is not serious enough to endanger the sleeping Saiyan girl inside, but it does damage the cryogenics system.  
  
Instead of preventing her body from aging, it accelerates her aging process.  
  
By the time she reaches Namek, she will physically be about twenty-five.  
  
Mentally, however, is a different matter altogether.  
  
******  
  
Oops again. (Evil laughter)  
  
And that's change number two. Now, lets see what happens when she arrives on Namek, eh?  
  
******  
  
The spacepod crashed in the middle of an especially large island, causing a crater to cover most of it.  
  
Fortunately, no Nameks lived on that particular island.  
  
Not that that fact helped the large dinosaurian that lived there until a Saiyan spacepod crushed its skull.  
  
The door to the pod slowly opened as its now-awakened passenger climbed out.  
  
She was short, largely a result of her body not having much food to convert to mass while she grew in the pod. When she straightened, she stood all of 4' 3". Shoulder-length blue hair stood out from her head in an almost helmet-like shape, in clear defiance of normal gravity.  
  
Unsteady on her feet, she wobbled uncertainly, before scenting the dead dinosaurian.  
  
She was HUNGRY.  
  
******  
  
A few hours later, half of the monster was skeletonized. The saiyajin sat, picking her teeth, on a massive armbone. Now that she wasn't hungry, she had to wonder...  
  
Where were her parents?  
  
Where were her friends?  
  
There was noone here.  
  
She wanted her father, but he wasn't here.  
  
She began to get angry.  
  
******  
  
Guru, still slim enough to be mobile (barely), but amazingly large, ran out of his home. The ground was shaking something awful, much like it had back when the world had nearly ended. Many of the Namekians in the villaige were having trouble gaining their feet, as there was no rhythm to the shaking.  
  
Reaching out with his senses, Guru located a chi signature greater than that of any of the other Namek on the planet. Not as powerful as him by a long shot, but still a potential danger.  
  
Fearful of what this might mean, and aware that there were people who might fancy his homeplanet enough to hire Saiyans to conquer it, he took a running leap, and flew towards the disturbance at top speed.  
  
He had to know what was going on, and he had to know NOW.  
  
******  
  
Guru stopped, mere minutes later, warily floating a short ways from the island. An occasional explosion of dirt and dust would occur, though they had slowed some. They were still big enough, he knew, to injure him if he got too much closer. He'd have to wait them out, whoever they were.  
  
Even as he thought that, the explosions stilled. Gradually, the smoke drifted away to reveal fissures and torn up spots, and even a few craters, on one huge crater that covered pretty much the whole island.  
  
Focusing his vision, he saw as the last of the smoke dissipated, what looked like a young woman on all fours in the middle of the island, pounding the ground with one fist, incidentally creating some good-sized fissures in the ground where she struck it. Then his sharp eyes picked up the tail. That was a Saiyajin! But... why hadn't she done anything more than this? Any Saiyan worth his- or her- salt would have at least enough brains to find people before trying to kill them. And given her power level, she could easily manage unless teamed by maybe twenty other Nameks, or unless he were to fight her.  
  
But she was just pounding the ground. Curiouser and curiouser. Wanting to know what was going on, Guru floated closer, then stopped as she jumped up and pointed at him.  
  
Angrily, the girl shouted at whomever it was she saw. It was probably his fault, he was the only one here! "Who you? Give back Momma! Give back Pappa!" She stomped one foot, causing more cracks in the island.  
  
Guru nearly fell out of the air. What on Namek was going on here? The woman was talking like an infant. This was wierd.  
  
She scowled as the strange man didn't say anything. "Want Pappa back NOW!!! GIVE PAPPA BACK!!!!"  
  
Every Saiyan trains, from the time they are born, in manipulating and using their chi. Even at such an age as four or five, almost every Saiyan had learned at least a simple chi blast. This particular Saiyan proved herself something of a prodigy by producing one at the mental and emotional age of two or so. Not that chi blasts in even infants were totally unheard of, but it was earlier than most female Saiyajin.  
  
Guru barely dodged the unexpected attack.  
  
The Saiyan almost smiled. Now she could MAKE this wierd man give her parents back.  
  
With that thought, she set to, attacking him mercilessly with chi blasts, each punctuated by a cry of "Give momma/pappa back!", "Want momma/pappa back NOW!", or "Gimme!"  
  
Fortunately for Guru, the woman wasn't very skilled. Even so, he actually had to pay attention to dodging from the mere number of chi blasts she was putting out. He frowned. He couldn't let the Saiyan loose, she might destroy the planet, intentionally OR through an accident. But he certaintly couldn't kill her, she really didn't know what she was doing.  
  
Wait....  
  
That's an idea!  
  
******  
  
Maybe an hour later, Guru returned to the villaige, and put a statue in the middle of it. The statue was of a Saiyan woman, poised as if to launch a chi blast. She had on a curious suit of armor (see Raditz in the first season of DBZ), and a look of simple anger, not killing rage like was more common on Saiyajin.  
  
Two years after, more or less, when Guru left the villaige to find a place in which to spend his waning years, the statue gained a pedestal with an inscription on it. The inscription read:  
  
This is Sarada. She is here as a guardian, proxy to Guru. Trust in this statue. Should it ever be broken, mourn, for this village: it is doomed. Should the statue cause its own breaking, however, rejoice, for those who appear later on that day are among the saviors of the planet.  
Doubt is caused  
By need to flee  
When chill arrives  
Give her your chi.  
-Guru  
  
The village nameks just shrugged when they saw the inscription. Guru WAS always right... even if he did have a habit of not explaining things sometimes. 


	2. Chapter 2

The Fifth Sayajin Chapter 2: Episode #33 Rewritten: Face-off on Namek, alternate version  
  
A Dragon Ball Z fanfiction by S. Starblade Dedicated to underdogs everywhere.  
  
Disclaimer: Most of these characters belong to Toriyama-sama, not to me. Besides, if you sued me, you wouldn't even get enough to pay the lawyers.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Buruma fell to her knees, trembling.  
  
"I... I can't believe it!"  
  
Kuillin leaned back slightly, arms crossed behind his head. "It's gotta be Vejita. I just know it. Don't you agree, Gohan?"  
  
Gohan tilted his head, quirking one eyebrow as he tried to figure out the second power he'd sensed. "Ah...."  
  
******  
  
"Just three more to go." Stated Freiza, happily. "Good job, my little frog- faced worker. Hm hm hm hm..."  
  
The squat alien waddled up and handed the dragonball to Dodoria, who chuckled as he tucked it under his free arm.  
  
Zarbon stared past Dodoria, silently.  
  
"Keep a close eye on these, Dodoria." Commanded Freiza. "It seems that Vejita is after them."  
  
Zarbon's scouter beeped, and he turned his head slightly.  
  
"Hmm? Wouldja lookit those two power readings I'm getting. It seems that Kui's right on Vejita's tail."  
  
Silence reigned for a moment.  
  
"Those two small power sources we noticed earlier," Continued Zarbon, "appear to have vanished, but don't worry. We'll find them, wherever they are. I sent some men to the area around where we noticed them before their powers blipped off the radar screen."  
  
"I'm not concerned about them, Zarbon. It's Vejita that I want off my back."  
  
"Kui'll take care of him in no time." Reassured the green prince. "His power level's much higher than Vejita's. I don't think you'll have to worry about seeing that monkey-tailed abomination again."  
  
******  
  
A purple-skinned alien with a cleft down the middle of his bald, bulbous head stood atop a rise. He looked down on the crater with Vejita's spacepod in it.  
  
"Vegita.... Oh, Vegita!" He frowned, finger on his Scouter button. "Come out and play..."  
  
Something registered, and he looked up, smiling.  
  
"I see youu.... Now, it's time for us... To have a little fun! Hehahahahahaha!"  
  
Soon, he was sailing off through the air in chi-powered flight.  
  
Vejita, however, was right there, hovering in midair.  
  
He smirked. "I'm right here, and waiting, Kui. I must say, I admire your courage. You don't stand a chance with me!"  
  
"Take a peek at your scouter, Vegita! My power level is way higher than yours. Someone should have taught you not to play with the big boys!"  
  
Checking the scouter readout, Vegita just smirked more, and began to chuckle.  
  
*Right into my hands, Kui. Right into my hands.*  
  
******  
  
Buruma sighed, not yet bothering to stand back up.  
  
"I still just can't believe this." She brightened up. "Hey, guys, I know! It's a sign for me to get back to Earth!"  
  
"Huh?" the diminutive warriors eloquently riposted, turning to face her.  
  
"Well, see you later!" Buruma was already up and running for the ship. "Enjoy your stay on Namek!"  
  
"Hey, Buruma," Interrupted Kuillin. "Just give us a sec."  
  
The teal-haired genius stopped short. "Huh?"  
  
"Well, hey, Gohan. So, uh, whadda ya say we, uh, go back also, huh?"  
  
Gohan stared blankly at his father's best friend.  
  
Kuillin, nonplussed, tried again. "Well, hey! There's so many people showing up, whadda they need us for? Huh?"  
  
Gohan continued to stare blankly.  
  
"Um, well w-well, y'see, Buruma, well, uh, I'm ready for action..." *Got it!* "...but I just don't want Gohan getting scared!"  
  
Gohan still didn't get it. "But, Kuillin, if we leave, then Vejita'll get the dragonballs!"  
  
"....."  
  
Kuillin looked thoughtful. "Oh, yeah, uhhh...." *C'mon, Kuillin, think!* "...maybe... we'll hand 'em over now, and we'll get 'em back next time! Hahahahahahaha...." The little bald monk was sweating now.  
  
"Kuillin, you know there's no way we can risk it. We don't have a choice."  
  
Faced with that, Kuillin was stumped. "rrrrh...."  
  
Suddenly, Gohan looked up. "Hey, Kuillin! Behind you!"  
  
Buruma also stared at the area behind him, then went and hid, unsuccessfully, behind a leg of the spaceship.  
  
Kuillin turned to look, and extended his chi sense as well.  
  
"What... what is it?" Asked Buruma, afraid to know.  
  
"I'm not sure, but I can tell it's weaker than Vejita is!"  
  
Gohan just gulped.  
  
Two strange-looking aliens walked around the corner of a hill on the next island over.  
  
The blue one with horns and lots of orange hair noticed the Chikyou first. "Hey, look over there!"  
  
The purple one, whose head resembled nothing more than a human skull with a strange crest on top, turned also. "I think the Nameks look quite tasty!"  
  
The blue one laughed. "These don't look like Nameks to me. But who cares? Zarbon says to take care of anyone we find here. Nyuhahahahahaha..."  
  
Buruma trembled. "look at the size of them!"  
  
Kuillin was surprised. "They're wearing the uniforms that the Saiyans wear, but they're not Saiyans!"  
  
Gohan just stared. "They're BIG!"  
  
Kuillin took a fighting stance. "I don't know what they want with us..."  
  
Buruma began grasping at straws, rather typically for her. "Well... maybe they're from the Namek welcoming committee, or something..."  
  
The two aliens finished their flight to the island.  
  
"Gohan," directed Kuillin, "Lower your power level to throw off their readings..."  
  
"All right..."  
  
The purple alien snickered. "Would you look at these helpless runts? They look completely out of place. Definitely don't look like warriors."  
  
"Whadda ya say we warm up with some firing practice on that porcupine-ship of theirs?"  
  
"Sound's good to me."  
  
The three Chikyuujin gaped at the hole in the front canopy of their spaceship.  
  
"Those jerks! Gohan..."  
  
The hirstute alien just laughed.  
  
"Hey, kiddies!" Taunted the purple one, waving his cooling blaster. "I think your mothers are calling!"  
  
"Let's get ready..." fumed Kuillin. "To do some serious powerin' up!"  
  
Taking their stances, Gohan and Kuillin began to focus as the aliens laughed derisively.  
  
Immediately, the Scouters went off. The two aliens were suddenly frightened out of five years' growth.  
  
"What??"  
  
"It can't be!! Look at that power reading!!!"  
  
The short fighters continued to power up.  
  
"Aaaaagh!"  
  
"You set?" Asked Kuillin.  
  
"Yeah!" came the reply.  
  
With a slight blurring of their forms, the two suddenly seemed to disappear entirely.  
  
Gohan appeared in front of the purple alien and landed a power-roundhouse in midair, sending his opponent spinning.  
  
Kuillin faded in, flipping over the blue alien's head, and landed a heavy kick on the alien's face when he turned around. With pinpoint accuracy, the two soldiers were sent flying into each other, both knocked unconscious, and landed in the water.  
  
Landing, Gohan and Kuillin watched the splashes. Chuckling, they extended thumbs-ups to each other.  
  
"Nice shot!" complimented Kuillin.  
  
Buruma couldn't believe it, and pulled a "big giant head".  
  
"WHAT ABOUT THE REST?!?!?!"  
  
And collapsed to her knees, tearing up.  
  
"Uh... huh?" Came Kuillin's response.  
  
Buruma looked up at the ship. The front view panel was totally shattered, and one of the ship's spikes had fallen off, to rest on the ground between her and the ship.  
  
"Now, we're never gonna get home...."  
  
******  
  
Freiza looked at the statue.  
  
Which, annoyingly, refused to return the favor.  
  
What was more annoying to the pint-sized Evil Lord (they required you to put that on your business card nowadays...), was that the statue was of a Saiyajin.  
  
It was on Namek.  
  
It didn't make sense. That annoyed him.  
  
There was only one thing to do to things that annoyed him.  
  
"Dodoria, be a good minion and destroy that statue, would you?"  
  
The pink, bulbous Dorevian nodded. "With pleasure, Master Freiza."  
  
The last Namek from that village, who lay dying near where Freiza had been earlier, managed to lift his head slightly.  
  
Not the statue...wait... A look of realization came over his face. Freiza... chill... too much for coincidence...  
  
Concentrating as best he could, he sent the last of his chi into the statue, via the ground between them, so as not to be stopped by Freiza or his men.  
  
The scouters just registered it as the last gasp of the Namek's lifeforce, which made sense, as he died from the effort.  
  
Dodoria hauled back to punch the statue when something wierd happened.  
  
The chi, reaching the statue, had given Sarada some energy. Which she put to use gathering the dissipated chi from the area, left over not only from the fights between the Nameks and Freiza, but from the Nameks during their everyday life. Every scrap of wasted, discarded, or leftover energy was drawn in, slowly at first, but with increasing speed. Nameks had been living in this village for quite a while.  
  
As warmth flowed back into her body, she began to try to move, causing the thin layer of stone to crack , and begin flaking off. Dodoria began to back off as his scouter started to show a chi signature. It began at fifty. A moment later, it was sixty. Then eighty. Then one-hundred- twenty. Then two hundred. Then three hundred fifty.  
  
Within three seconds, it had hit a thousand.  
  
Another three, and it was at three thousand, and the statue was glowing, as the parts flaking off showed color underneath.  
  
Zarbon, facing another direction, blinked as his scouter blew from Vejita's powering up.  
  
"Um, Freiza, sir.."  
  
Freiza was busy staring at the statue, however. "Don't bother me, Zarbon."  
  
The signature peaked at seven thousand, and the last of the stone exploded off the statue, drawing everyone's attention, which is to say, Zarbon's attention. Everyone else had been staring at the statue anyways.  
  
Inhaling, Sarada flexed, stretching her joints a moment, then tightened down the focus on her ki. Her battle aura disappeared. She glared at Freiza. "You killed them all. You will pay for this. Mark my words."  
  
Freiza chuckled. "And what are YOU going to do about it, monkey?"  
  
Sarada smirked. "Glad you asked. I'm going to do..."  
  
Everyone else took up combat positions, except Freiza.  
  
"..THIS!" Shouted Sarada.  
  
And ran like nothing ever seen before. Rather than flying across the water away from the island, she ran across it, moving so fast that she didn't sink, and left water plowed up behind her, like a hydrofoil.  
  
Dodoria moved to follow her.  
  
"Wait." Commanded Freiza. "Power level seven thousand... She won't matter. If she becomes some sort of a nuisance, we'll deal with her later. There's no way she'll get strong enough to be a problem before we leave. And when we leave... let's just say that anything left of this planet will have come with us, yes?"  
  
Looking skeptical, but not overtly so, Dodoria went back to take up his position behind Freiza.  
  
Freiza turned to Zarbon. "What was that earlier, Zarbon?"  
  
Zarbon looked flatly at Freiza. "Vejita. He's managed to increase his power... Kui doesn't stand a chance. Check your scouters, by this time, he's probably already dead."  
  
Dodoria turned and activated his scouter. And did a double-take. "He's right. Vejita's still there, but no sign of Kui. But, that doesn't make sense! Vejita's power level is down at four thousand!"  
  
Zarbon shook his head. "It read Vejita's power level at twenty-two thousand before it went out."  
  
******  
  
Gohan and Kuillin blinked, as a sudden spray of water flew up over them, and doused them. Fortunately for Buruma, it didn't reach too far inland, but still...  
  
The two pint-sized heroes became curious.  
  
Buruma looked up at the two, who were staring in the direction the power had gone.  
  
"What are you two... Oh, no you don't!" She yelled. "You're not leaving until I've fixed the ship!"  
  
Kuillin reached over and nabbed the Dragon Ball Radar, which was poking out of Buruma's pocket.  
  
"Look, Buruma, we really can't help you with this. You just work on the ship, and Gohan and I will go check out whatever that was. Then we'll go find the Dragon Balls. Just remember, don't panic. Oh, and if any of Freiza's men come, hide. See ya!"  
  
And he was off through the air.  
  
"Hey, wait up!" Shouted Gohan, pulling a fish out of his sash, and giving chase.  
  
"Guyyys!!" Shouted Buruma. "What on CHIKYUU are you doing! GET BACK HERE!!!!"  
  
Of course, they weren't on Chikyuu, so Buruma got no answers.  
  
******  
  
Sarada was running as fast as she could. She needed to get to Guru.  
  
During the time she'd been bound as a statue, Sarada had eventually learned, by watching the local Nameks, the secret to astral projection. Several times, she had used it to talk to Guru face-to-face, more or less.  
  
But it was much slower than she was now. She just hoped she could remember where Guru was staying.  
  
She noticed the two power signatures following her, but since they weren't Freiza or his men, she let them.  
  
Guru would need all the help he could get, and if they could keep up with her, they would be useful allies.  
  
Keeping up her maximum speed was tiring, but it would get her to Guru before she tired out. She noted, with some surprise, that when she looked back, the two following her were slowly closing on her by hopping from island to island.  
  
They also didn't look inclined to ask questions while still moving.  
  
Muttering under her breath, Sarada pushed harder, accelerating slightly.  
  
****** 


	3. Chapter 3

The Fifth Saiyajin Chapter 3: Well I'll be a Monkey's Uncle.  
  
A Dragon Ball Z Fanfiction by Selene Starblade.  
  
Disclaimer: Toriyama-sama owns most of them, not me. Sarada, however, is all mine.  
  
"Master Freiza!"  
  
Freiza looked sidelong at the toady that had spoken up.  
  
"There are signs of some Nameks approaching from that direction!"  
  
"Well, that's good news. Maybe they can lead us to the next Dragon Ball. Our collection is growing."  
  
Zarbon and Dodoria looked back at the diminutive Tyrant.  
  
"Make sure you keep on your guard," he continued, " Until you know who those other guys are."  
  
"Yes." The two muttered in unison.  
  
"Let's head out!" Ordered Freiza.  
  
With a series of sounds, orbs of blue flight-chi flashed off into the distance.  
  
*******  
  
Sarada kept running, even as she noted Freiza and his men departing in a different direction. It wasn't too much farther to Guru's. Once there, she could speak with him and whoever his current guardian Warrior was, and maybe establish a plan.  
  
Perhaps the two flying after her would want to join in. She hoped so. It would be a waste of time if she had to stop and talk to them, only to have them refuse to help.  
  
Guru was going to need everything he could get.  
  
*******  
  
Kuillin and Gohan kept their chi levels to the minimum necessary to keep up with Sarada.  
  
"Whoever this is, they're fast. I don't think they're flying, either." Called Kuillin.  
  
Gohan just nodded, and kept his focus on the chi they were following. Something about it reminded him of someone, but he wasn't sure who.  
  
*******  
  
There it was. Guru's spire. Sarada was never going to figure it out.  
  
Her 'uncle' wanted to be more or less left alone. Yet, he had put himself in one of the most prominent, obvious locations on the planet.  
  
Ah, well. It wasn't to her to make decisions for him.  
  
Using a standard chi-trick, when she reached the bottom of the spire, she shifted her chi, changing the direction her inertia was carrying her in. But Sarada did it a little differently. She turned it all upwards, and kept running. The result was that Gohan and Kuillin were treated to the sight of what appeared to be someone running straight up the last dozen or so meters of the spire.  
  
Sarada noticed them slowing to a stop on the fringe of her senses, and came to a stop on the spire, turning to face them and wait. Powering down her aura, Sarada sent off a tiny burst of nondestructive chi into Guru's home, so he would know she was there. She folded her arms behind herself, clasping both wrists behind her waist, just above the base of her tail, which was wrapped around the waistband of her armor, and released most of the extra chi she had gathered from the village. She couldn't afford to waste any of what she could get, and it was taking some of the chi she had 'borrowed' to keep it all bound to her. At least it would deteriorate slower when it was embedded in the local landscape.  
  
Gohan and Kuillin landed, skidding to a halt, seeming to gape a bit.  
  
"Gohan.. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"  
  
Gohan nodded. "It's.. a Saiyajin!"  
  
Sarada blinked. She hadn't done anything to give that away. There had to be at least a dozen galactic races that looked a lot like the Saiyajin, including whatever race the two in front of her happened to be. So how had they recognized her race?  
  
"She's got her tail wrapped, too. I wonder if she's like Vegeta and Nappa?" Asked Kuillin.  
  
Sarada was beginning to get annoyed. "I'm standing right here, you know. I can hear you."  
  
Kuillin gulped audibly, and laughed nervously. "Hee hee hee. ah, sorry about that. U- um, are you-"  
  
"We don't have time for this." Stated Sarada, turning to the home. She headed for the door, which opened in front of her. She started to step in, then paused, one hand on the doorframe. "Follow me if you want to help out against that bastard who's been hunting down the Nameks. Otherwise, just go away." With that, she stepped inside.  
  
Kuillin blinked, and looked at Gohan.  
  
Gohan shrugged. "Beats me. Can't hurt to check, though."  
  
Kuillin nodded in return. "Keep on your guard though. She is a Saiyajin."  
  
"I heard that!" Sarada shouted from inside.  
  
Gohan frowned at Kuillin, and then ran inside. Kuillin sweatdropped for a moment, then followed him into the building.  
  
******  
  
Buruma looked up.  
  
"Oh, great. I think it looks like rain. Of course, since I don't know Namek weather patterns, I can't tell worth beans. What am I gonna do for shelter??"  
  
She stood there for a moment, then smacked her forehead. "Duh! I'll use a capsule-house. Now, which pocket was that in?"  
  
******  
  
Gohan and Kuillin looked around.  
  
"What's she tryin' to pull? This place is empty!"  
  
"Up here, you nitwit!" Shouted Sarada, from somewhere above.  
  
Gohan, already floating up towards the hole in the ceiling, gave Kuillin a look.  
  
Kuillin laughed nervously and followed him.  
  
******  
  
There, they were treated to something of a sight. Aside from Sarada, there were two other people present. One of them looked remarkably like Piccolo. The other one of them looked remarkably like Piccolo- or at least like Piccolo would if he put on about a thousand each of years and pounds.  
  
The female saiyajin was lying on her back on the floor by the edge of the hole. Just boosting herself enough to reach Guru's room had used up enough of her remaining personal chi to wear her out. This was not good. She didn't even have enough left to take in ambient chi, not that she wanted to. It was a useful ability sometimes, but the problems with it generally far outweighed the benefits, and she would rather have relied on her personal ability, except that that wasn't so high. She had gotten no exercise in the spacepod, though it kept her relatively fit (for a saiyajin), and less as a statue. The pod had at least kept her physically fit, but now, after being freed from the statue and running like that, leg muscles she hadn't known she had were screaming in agony. Very not good. Breathing a bit hard, she tried to focus and find her center.  
  
Looking curiously at the saiyajin woman, Gohan was surprised to note that her aura's strength had dropped very low- her aura's strength was only about that of Master Roshi, or rather would have been. Most of it was used up. Part of the familiar quality of her chi had disappeared, too. Now he could figure out what it was though- her chi reminded him of his father and Vegeta. More of his father, but still. Now he was sure she was a saiyajin. He wasn't sure what it meant, though.  
  
Kuillin gaped at the larger namekian. This guy was big! No, bigger than that. Large. Huge, even. And while he didn't seem to have much in the way of chi, there was some sort of quality to it.. Kuillin got a few shivers.  
  
The bigger Namek coughed slightly, and the smaller one stepped forwards. "Who are you?"  
  
Before Kuillin could respond, the saiyajin woman chuckled dryly. "Always suspicious, aren't we, Nail?" She took another breath. "Back those years ago, you wouldn't even completely trust Guru."  
  
Nail snorted. "I learned better about that, Sarada, but that doesn't mean I haven't got the right to be suspicious on a first meeting."  
  
Sarada sat up, nodding. "True enough. Well, these two followed me here after Ikim spent the last of his life to revive me. They don't seem to bear any bad intentions. What do you think, Guru-sama?"  
  
The tremendous bulk of the larger namekian shifted slightly. "Please, Sarada." Guru rumbled, "You need not show such obesciance. I am still your 'uncle Guru'."  
  
Sarada smirked. "That doesn't mean I can't show you proper respect, uncle Guru."  
  
Guru's mouth curled up ever-so-slightly at his 'niece'. She always had a bit of an odd sense of humor, and refusing something while accepting it was just another facet.  
  
Gohan frowned slightly. "Uncle? But. you aren't a saiyan."  
  
The massive, seated namekian nodded. "True. But I am as close as Sarada here can get to family. I did, after all, raise her, or as close as I could."  
  
Sarada, leaning heavily on the wall, managed to make her way to her feet, though she was leaning over and sweating some.  
  
"Uncle, we have a serious problem."  
  
"I know, Sarada. Your spirit is in good shape, but you need to catch your body up to it. I am afraid I do not and never have known any better way to have kept you so long. I am sorry I was not able to let you retain your strength."  
  
Sarada shook her head. "No, uncle. It is not your fault. I was hoping, however, that you might know of some way I could fix that well enough to make a difference in the end."  
  
Kuillin frowned, looking from one to the other, watching whichever of the two was speaking at any given moment. He started slightly as a hand landed on his shoulder, and then he looked up, recalling the other namekian in the room.  
  
Nail looked down at the diminutive man. "Perhaps we three should go outside. It would probably be better to let them converse alone."  
  
Sarada turned to Nail, Kuillin, and Gohan. "No, this involves all three of you as well. There are some things that need to be done, if Freiza is to be defeated. Guru and I have already discussed that at length."  
  
Nail nodded. "If you say so." Removing his hand from Kuillin's shoulder, he took a step back, remaining centered behind the two smaller fighters.  
  
"The real problem here," Continued Sarada, as though she had not interrupted her conversation at all, "Is not so much one of bringing me up to the necessary level of physical ability as it is of managing it quickly enough."  
  
Guru nodded slightly again. "I think there may be a way, though."  
  
Sarada quirked up one pale-blue eyebrow. "Oh? So, you've been keeping a secret, Guru-sama?"  
  
"No, no." Guru sighed. "Or rather, I have, but for a good reason. Tell me, Sarada, what is the most noticeable thing about my house?"  
  
Sarada folded her arms over her chest, returning a curious gaze to Guru's indecipherable one. "It's on top of a huge, blatantly obvious spire?"  
  
Guru nodded, then raised one hand from its armrest, allowing it to swing out over the floor. Pointing down with one green, wrinkled finger, he answered.  
  
"Indeed. And there is a reason for this spire. Deep underneath the ground, years ago, a large pocket of air formed, in a vertical column. It pushed this spire up from below, leaving a considerable space underground. In this space, this storage, are a considerable number of things. Most of them are useless, held in case of happenings that never occurred. But there is one thing there that I placed for your sake, Sarada, so long ago when I foresaw only the faintest shadows of this day."  
  
Guru coughed twice, and raised his hand to wave off Nail. "I will be fine, Nail."  
  
"But, Guru-sama, you need to re-"  
  
"Hush, Nail. This is more important." His hand finally returned to the armrest, sitting as though glued in place. "In this cavern, on the very floor of it, sits an object I built for you to use, Sarada. It is very specific. Consider it a 'birthday gift' of sorts. It took a long time to get the measurements just right."  
  
"I thank you greatly, Uncle Guru," Sarada stated impatiently, "But could you please say what it is already? Time is as short as a fresh-planted Tree of Life."  
  
Guru sighed again, nodding in aquiescence. "You are, of course, correct. Straight to the point as usual. What I have for you is an outfit- something like full-body armor. However, instead of providing resistance to blows, this 'armor' resists the wearer's own motions. It can be set to varying degrees of tension, so it can adjust to always provide exercise."  
  
"I see." Stated Sarada, thoughtfully. "So, your idea behind this is that I wear this until it becomes unnecessary or I need to function without it? That's not going to be enough time- we have a few cycles at most."  
  
Guru nodded once more, sadly. "So it would seem. However." Here, he turned his attention to Gohan and Kuillin. ".These two, it would appear, have a friend approaching- one who may well turn the tide. All that is needed-"  
  
"Is enough to delay until this person's arrival, hm?" Sarada cut Guru off. "And what assurance do we have that this friend will be good enough to defeat Freizer?"  
  
"Hey!" Exclaimed Gohan. "My dad's REAL strong! He'll send anyone packing! He was stronger than Bejita, and that was months ago!"  
  
Sarada gave Gohan a disbelieving look, her eyes narrowing. "Kid, compared to Freiza, Bejita's nothing. I should know- I can feel Bejita now, and I met Freizer face-to-face. Even relaxing, Freizer has more power than I or anyone else I've ever heard of even likes to think about."  
  
Kuillin swallowed thickly, turning to Guru. "Just. how strong IS Freizer?"  
  
"That," replied Guru, "Will take some explanation. So as to be more effective, though, I believe Sarada should go and get the suit. I trust you can get her into the chamber, Nail?"  
  
Nail blinked, then looked at the two from offplanet. Looking back to Guru, he spoke. "But, what if they find you while we're down there?"  
  
Guru shook his head. "These two from Chikyuu may not look like much at a glance, but together they are nearly as capable in combat as your predecessor, Nail. I will not be defenseless while you are so short a distance away."  
  
Frowning, Nail nodded slowly. He hated to trust Guru's safety to strangers, but he also knew that his father must have his reasons. Reluctantly, he headed to the hole leading down to the 'ground floor' of the building.  
  
"Are you coming, Sarada?"  
  
The female Saiyan nodded, heading over to the hole and clambering down partway. Hanging from the edge by her hands, she let go, allowing herself to drop the short distance to the floor. Nail followed her down the hole. 


End file.
